With a vote gap of more than 100,000 in Ohio favoring President George W. Bush, the election’s outcome leans heavily toward the incumbent. At press time, the potential outcomes were clear, but hinge on Ohio’s 20 electoral votes.

The John Kerry campaign clung to the hope that Ohio’s provisional ballots – which are optimistically estimated to number about 250,000 – might give Kerry the boost he needs to make up ground on Bush. Even if 250,000 such ballots exist, the Bush campaign questions how many will actually be counted, since provisional ballots are given to voters whose names are not on voter rolls for various reasons at their polling stations, including ineligibility.

Even if enough eligible provisional ballots exist, an overwhelming majority would have to go to Kerry to close the gap.

While the electoral vote remains in question, the popular vote decisively favors Bush by more than 3 million votes.

Both candidates need fewer than 20 votes to reach the required 270 to claim an Electoral College majority, making Ohio the only path to presidential victory, regardless of how Iowa – which also remained undecided at press time – votes.

Students on campus hoped for a decision, but feared that any sort of conclusion would not come for a long time.

‘If we’ve learned anything from 2000 it’s to hold your breath,’ said Bob Hand, a senior television, radio and film major.

College Republican expectations for the upcoming weeks ran the gamut from complete optimism to doubt about any satisfaction. An unknown winner, some Republicans say, would be the worst result of all.

Democrats, on the other hand, were considerably muted in their response to the election as Bush consistently held a lead in the Electoral College, and Kerry faced a tough battle to gain victory in Ohio and capture the election. At their most emotional, they were angry or disappointed.

‘If Bush wins, I’m leaving the country, I’m serious,’ said Adam Marks, a graduate student in computer networking.

Celebration and optimism were still an option for some College Republicans, who said their chairman Chuck Duprey will be marking a Bush-Cheney victory with a camp-out on the Quad tomorrow, said Ian Hubbard, a freshman majoring in aerospace engineering and College Republican.

‘I’m going to be harassed tomorrow,’ said Hubbard, who predicted harsh reactions from a predominantly liberal campus. ‘I don’t care. I’ll take it. I’ve been saying all along who’s going to win Florida and Ohio. We’ve always had confidence in him and he came through.’

While College Republicans came together at the Sheraton, College Democrats were less organized in their election viewing, failing to designate a central location from which to watch the election unfold.

Melissa Bennett, a freshman majoring in English and textual studies from North Carolina, Sen. John Edwards’ home state, was among many other Democrats who watched the election from Bird Library. North Carolina elected Bush.

‘I kind of figured that North Carolina would go Republican. I lived there all my life; the people there have very conservative values,’ Bennett said.

Some Democrats took a more relaxed attitude toward the election: They didn’t even vote.

David Lasker, a senior majoring in accounting and finance from New York, never bothered to apply for an absentee ballot.

‘Not sure that it would have made a difference in New York,’ Lasker said. ‘I’m jumping through too many hoops so I decided not to vote. Had I been a voter in Ohio or Michigan, I would have made more an effort to vote.’

Democrats experienced support from members of other parties and international students.

Jeff Levin, a Libertarian Party member and a senior majoring in supply chain management and accounting from Florida, voted for Kerry in this election, which Bush won. Levin describes himself and the Libertarian Party as fiscally conservative but socially liberal.

‘(Bush’s) expanded our government by creating the Department of Homeland Security,’ Levin said. ‘He’s a fake fiscal conservative.’

Canadian student Arun Sahanan, a junior majoring in construction management, also supported Kerry. Sahanan said he and the rest of Canada supported Bush until the war in Iraq broke out.

‘What President Bush should have done is focused on Afghanistan,’ Sahanan said.

‘Since we have a new prime minister in Canada, I think his views and Kerry’s views are similar.’

It wasn’t just Democrats who worried about a Bush victory. Some Republican students, though they believed in some of the policies of the party, chose to vote for Kerry over Bush, calling the election a choice between two evils.

‘People are going to say the other side cheated or that it was a tie,’ said Meredith Rockhill, a sophomore broadcast journalism major. ‘No one’s going to be happy.’